


Emrys

by Clea2011



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Arthur Knows About Merlin's Magic, BAMF Merlin, Canon Era, Hurt/Comfort, Interrogation, M/M, Protective Arthur, Temporary Character Death, Torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-06
Updated: 2018-03-06
Packaged: 2019-03-27 16:38:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13884864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Clea2011/pseuds/Clea2011
Summary: Arthur has something that Cenred wants.  And what Cenred wants, Cenred will go to any lengths to get.Cenred wants Emrys.





	Emrys

**Author's Note:**

> Written for hc bingo February challenge for the prompts torture, interrogation, disappearances and broken bones.
> 
> There wasn't time to have it betaed - apologies for any errors. I will tidy it up later.

Arthur loved the evenings.

Alone with his servant, his sorcerer, his love…  It was the one time of day when they were almost never disturbed.  They could lie there hidden away from the world.

Merlin was already asleep, snuffling gently in his slumber.  Devoid of all the cares of the day his face appeared so innocent and almost childlike.  It was curious, Arthur thought, how Merlin could look so young and vulnerable when he was capable of wielding so much power. 

The power had been a shock at first, but it hadn’t taken Arthur long to realise that it had great uses for the kingdom.  Merlin was Camelot’s greatest asset and strongest weapon.  And he was all Arthur’s.

Merlin turned in his sleep, moving closer to Arthur as if drawn by an invisible thread. Arthur could feel his lover’s breath against his skin, warm and gentle.  It felt so right, having him there.

It was a peaceful idyll, and Arthur was just starting to doze off himself.  And then there was the sound of heavy footfall on the stone of the corridor outside.  Two voices arguing… he could hear his name mentioned. 

Beside him Merlin stirred, blinking slowly awake.

There was a light tap on the door, followed immediately by loud rapping and more arguing.  So much for their peaceful night.

“Merlin…”

Merlin just buried his face in the pillow and made a sound that definitely indicated he wouldn’t be emerging any time soon if he could help it.  Arthur considered shoving him out of bed – Merlin was still technically his manservant after all and should be answering the door.  But there was something about that endearingly ruffled head of hair and the grumbling noises coming from somewhere behind it.  With a long-suffering sigh, Arthur got up, wrapped a blanket around his waist, and went over to open the door.

Gwaine and Leon were on the other side.  Gwaine’s hand was raised to rap on the door again.  The furious look on Leon’s face told Arthur all he needed to know about the noise and argument.

“I’m sorry, Sire.  I told him to wait.  Or knock quietly.”

Gwaine glared at Leon then crossed his arms defiantly.  “No point in knocking quietly.  They were either asleep or shagging each other!  They wouldn’t have heard.”

Leon looked at Arthur, then obviously decided he couldn’t and looked back at Gwaine.  “This is the king!”

“Yes.  I know.  And he’s wearing a blanket and I would guess nothing else.”

“The point, Gwaine,” Arthur growled, not liking his personal life being discussed in such a manner.  Leon looked completely embarrassed to be there. Gwaine was smirking at Arthur and… was that a bit of a leer as well?  “I’m your king,” he reminded the cheeky knight pointedly as it obviously hadn’t sunk in when coming from Leon.  The leer faded.  Slightly.

“Ah, yeah… Um… Sire, there’s been reports of an attack on one of the villages on the border with Essetir.  We thought you should know.”

“I thought you could wait until morning,” Leon added.  “As we can hardly ride out in the middle of the night.  But Gwaine thought differently.”

“Not Ealdor?” Merlin piped up, suddenly appearing at Arthur’s side.  He’d pulled some clothes on, Arthur noted with relief, although that didn't stop Gwaine raising an insolent eyebrow at him.  And then there was a definite leer at Merlin.  Arthur’s hand twitched.  Sometimes Gwaine pushed just a little too far.

“No,” Leon confirmed, oblivious to Arthur’s annoyance with Gwaine.  “It was Owendor and that’s many leagues away.  We believe it may have been Cenred who carried out the attack.”

They really should move Merlin’s mother to Camelot before Cenred or someone else realised her family connections, Arthur thought.  She’d be safer there and happy to be with her son and Gaius.  Still, she wasn’t the immediate problem.

“Owendor is in Camelot territory.  If Cenred’s responsible then that’s an act of war.”

“Indeed, Sire. We’ll send out a patrol at first light to ascertain whether that is the case…”

“We’ll go ourselves,” Arthur interrupted Leon.  “First light, as you say.  The four of us will go, we can evaluate the situation and then decide how to act.  Have Percival and Elyan take charge here while we’re gone.  Now get some sleep, it’ll be a long ride in the morning.”

“Sire.” Leon gave a little bow as the door closed on him.

Arthur turned to find a worried-looking Merlin at his side.

“Arthur, if we’re going to war with Essetir…”

“I’ll send for your mother, don’t worry, she’ll be safe.  In fact, we’ll ride to Ealdor after we’ve checked the situation in Owendor and bring her here.  I can’t have Cenred finding out about our relationship and using her as some sort of bargaining chip if we go to war.”

“Thank you.”

It was a mark of how worried Merlin had to be that he didn’t even react to Arthur’s attempt at making the kind action seem logical and efficient.  Probably he realised that it wasn’t any such thing, Arthur knew.  He led Merlin back to bed, doubting that his lover was going to get much sleep.

And not for the usual reason either.

\---

Owendor was less than a league from the Essetir border.  It had always looked vulnerable from a strategic point of view but never actually been attacked by the other kingdom before.  It was a foolish act. Camelot had the stronger army and Arthur had been carefully building up their allies since becoming king.  An attack now made little sense.  He suspected the reports were incorrect.  Possibly it was a mutual enemy out to cause trouble.  But then Cenred had always appeared slightly deranged with his wild hair and love of uncomfortably tight leather clothing.  Perhaps that impression wasn’t just limited to his appearance.  At any rate Arthur was going to give him the benefit of the doubt until things were proved. Merlin had long since persuaded him that this was the best way to deal with things and Arthur grudgingly admitted that it had proved a sensible and generally beneficial way to govern.

Except there was nothing sensible about Cenred and striking back might prove unavoidable.

The village, as feared, was pretty much obliterated.  There were smoking ruins where wooden huts had once stood.  The air tasted of death and ashes.  There was no sign of life, and an inspection of the first dwelling revealed the horrific truth that the villagers had been massacred.

The only mercy was that at least Owendor had been a very sparsely populated community and the death toll was not as high as it could have been.  But that was a very, very small mercy. 

“Cowards!” Gwaine snarled as he investigated a second ruin.  “These were just farming families.  There was no reason to do this.”

But there was always a reason.  The problem was in deciding whether it was an act of war or someone just trying to make it look like one.  A mutual enemy would benefit from a war between Camelot and Essetir, Arthur knew.  It was why he couldn’t act rashly, no matter how much he wanted to.

“We need to find who did this,” Arthur told them.  “Search the area, perhaps there are survivors who managed to run into the woods.”  He desperately wanted there to be survivors.  Having an entire village wiped out was just too horrible to consider.

Leon and Gwaine immediately moved away, doing as they were bid.  Merlin of course stayed with Arthur.  But in this case Arthur was glad of it.

“Can you use your magic?” Arthur whispered, making sure the knights couldn’t hear.  “For scouting the area or something like that?  Find who did it and where they came from?  Or where they went?”

Merlin shook his head.  “I don’t know how to do that.  I could…Ah!”

Arthur never found out what it was that Merlin could do, because a group of armed men suddenly appeared as if from nowhere, surrounding them both.  Arthur hadn’t seen them approach – one moment there had been nobody there, the next there were a large squad of knights. One had swung a heavy mallet at Merlin’s head, connecting with a sickening crunch.  Merlin immediately collapsed at Arthur’s feet, blood starting to seep through a wound on the side of his head.  Arthur drew his sword, standing over Merlin’s unconscious form.  He desperately wanted to check Merlin’s injury but there was no chance of doing so.  There were too many surrounding them, and every single one was holding a weapon ready to strike him down.

“Pendragon.”

It wasn’t Cenred who had knocked Merlin out, that task had fallen to one of his knights.  But the king of Essetir was standing there, smirking at Arthur.  He was of course a safe enough distance.  Arthur’s prowess with the sword was legendary.  Even vastly outnumbered as he was, Arthur knew he would take a fair number of them with him if it came to a fight.

“Owendor is on Camelot land, Cenred.  This is an act of war.”

“Aren’t you in a bit too much of a vulnerable position there to be declaring war on me, Pendragon?  I make it about twenty of us to four…” he glanced down at Merlin and laughed. “Sorry, _three_ of you now.”

Arthur could hear the clash of swords behind him. He turned to see that Gwaine and Leon were fighting more of Cenred’s men.   It was an uneven fight, seven against two.  Arthur was proud to see they were both holding their own like the fine swordsmen that they were but it was an impossible task.  He was torn, needing to protect Merlin while his lover was unable to protect himself, and desperately wanting to join in the battle.  He started to move instinctively towards the fight, but immediately found several swords at his throat. That moment of distraction proved to be the deciding factor as Leon was struck down and Gwaine disarmed.

One of the men kicked at Leon, who didn’t move.  There was a nasty looking gash in his side.

“Leave him!” Gwaine snarled and got a punch in the mouth for his trouble.  Gwaine just spat out blood then sneered defiantly at his captors.

“Bring that one over here,” Cenred called.  “What about the other one?”

“Think he’s dead,” one of Cenred’s men told him.  Arthur felt sick to his stomach.  Leon had been with him since he was a boy.  Leon wasn’t just a knight, he was a friend.  He couldn’t be gone, not when they’d been through so much together.

“You’ll pay,” Gwaine growled as he was dragged over to Cenred.  “Leon was worth a thousand of you!”

This time Gwaine was punched in the stomach by Cenred himself.  Winded, Gwaine bent over, gasping.  But he managed to straighten up and look Cenred in the eye, still defiant.  “That the best you’ve got?”

“That depends on how you answer my questions,” Cenred told him.  “Both of you,” he added, looking to Arthur. 

Arthur raised an eyebrow.  It wasn’t up to Gaius’ standard, he knew, but he hoped it might be a passable imitation.  There was still no movement from Merlin.  “Please don’t tell me you’ve murdered all these innocent people because you wanted a chat.”

“Questions, I said.  You have something I want, Pendragon.  Hand over Emrys and I’ll let you live.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Arthur told him.  He didn’t dare look down at Merlin.  “What’s Emrys?”

“Not what.  Who,” Cenred snapped.  “The sorcerer that protects Camelot. Strange when it was illegal there for so long. They’d be better off in Essetir.” He nodded towards one tall, burly man who sported intricate tattoos across his scalp.  That man wasn’t carrying a weapon but Arthur knew enough about magic to recognise some of the runes and charms amongst the inking. It explained why Cenred had been able to sneak up on them.  The tattooed man had to be a sorcerer.  “Balen here prefers Essetir, certainly.  Especially after your father tried to burn him."

Balen glared at Arthur, but didn’t speak.  Arthur couldn’t remember ever having seen him before.  But then his father had killed so many magic users. That was his father though.  Things were different now.

“So, back to the question,” Cenred continued.  “ _Who’s_ Emrys?”

Gwaine tossed back his hair, apparently unimpressed.  “Who’s asking?” he mocked.

It was the best and also the most stupid thing that Gwaine could have done, Arthur realised.  He saw Cenred’s eyes narrow.  As if it could be Gwaine.  But then, years ago, Arthur would never have believed it could be Merlin.

“Take that one,” Cenred instructed his men.  “And Pendragon too. Bind them, Pendragon’s tricky and I don’t want a blade in my back.”

“Just let us go,” Arthur attempted.  “The men I’ve left in charge back at Camelot will come looking if we don’t return.  You don’t want a war, Cenred.”  Though he would be getting one for the cowardly murder of the poor villagers, Arthur thought privately.  He couldn’t let that pass.  But he needed to be back with his people before he could act.  Elyan, Percival and Lancelot would come looking, but whilst Cenred held their king they would be hesitant to fight him.  And Cenred would know that as well as Arthur did.

“You’re in no position to make demands,” Cenred reminded him.  “But you’ll talk.  You could save a lot of discomfort and just tell me now.”

Arthur sighed.  “I really don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Fine.” Cenred turned to his men.  “Back to Essetir.  Watch both of them.  If they try to escape then incapacitate them.  Don’t kill them.”

One of Cenred’s men indicated Merlin. “What about this one?”

Cenred poked at Merlin with the toe of his boot.  Arthur fought against the urge to retaliate.  It would do no good for Cenred to see how much Merlin meant to him.  Worryingly, Merlin didn’t move.  His skin looked far too pale against the red of his blood.  Arthur swallowed hard, fearful that Merlin might never wake.

“This is just a servant but I don’t want him going back to Camelot and raising the alarm. Kill him.”

“No!” Arthur gasped, struggling to free himself from his bonds. “He’s just a servant. Haven’t you killed enough innocent people?”

Cenred shrugged and turned away.  “Looks dead anyway.”

Arthur tried not to react to that.  He’d seen Merlin survive things that should have killed him so many times.  Much as he wanted to tend to his lover, Arthur knew that the best thing he could do would be to encourage Cenred to leave Merlin where he was.  And if Cenred knew how relieved Arthur was that Cenred seemed not to be interested in Merlin then Merlin would be either finished off or brought with them as leverage.  Although as what Cenred wanted was actually Merlin himself then that would be an interesting dilemma.

“Tie them on their own horses,” Cenred ordered.  “We’ve wasted enough time here.”

Arthur and Gwaine exchanged worried glances and Arthur saw Gwaine’s gaze flicker briefly down to Merlin’s prone form then back up to Arthur.  Arthur gave a tiny shake of his head and hoped that Gwaine understood that the best thing was to leave them.  If there was any chance that Merlin was alive and that incredible magic he had could heal him then Arthur would take it.

And soon enough Elyan would lead out a search party.  Arthur just hoped it would be in time.

For Leon, though, it was already too late.

\---

Merlin’s head was throbbing so hard that it felt as if it might burst. 

Merlin gingerly opened his eyes and sat up slowly, feeling slightly sick as he did so.  Someone reached to help him, supporting him gently.

“Easy now, you took a nasty blow.”

“Leon?” Merlin looked around at the tall knight crouched beside him. “What happened?”

“Cenred attacked us.  His men just appeared from nowhere.  Gwaine and I were fighting them and I…” – he glanced down at his own chest – “I must have passed out.  Probably lost too much blood.”

Merlin doubted that was what had happened.  Leon had recovered well, despite the amount of blood that stained his armour.  It indicated a far more serious wound than he appeared to have received given how healthy he now appeared.

“I was lucky.”

“Yes,” Merlin agreed.  “Lucky.”

He didn’t have the heart to say more.  He’d wondered about Leon ever since the man had been revived with the cup of life, but this seemed to confirm it. Leon would discover the truth for himself one day but at least for now Merlin wanted to leave him with what Leon thought was a normal life.  Poor, sensible Leon of all people doomed to an impossibly immortal life.  But there were more pressing concerns for now.

“Where are Arthur and Gwaine?” Merlin asked. 

The late afternoon sun was low in the sky and the ruins of the village cast long shadows over the ground.  It had been much earlier in the day when they had reached the village.  Hours must have passed. 

“I don’t know,” Leon admitted.  “I think they disarmed Gwaine when I fell, but I’m not sure.  Cenred already had Arthur surrounded.  It looked as if Arthur was standing guard over you,” Leon added. 

Arthur would do that of course.  But there was no time for Merlin to think fondly of his bravery.  Neither Arthur nor Gwaine were anywhere in sight.  Neither were the horses.  Wincing slightly at the effort, Merlin got to his feet.

“Cenred must have taken them prisoner,” Merlin sighed. “They must have reached his castle by now.”

“He’ll send demands to Camelot in return for Arthur’s safety,” Leon agreed.  “He probably wants some of Camelot’s land.  At least it will pay him to keep Arthur alive while the bargaining goes on. We should follow.”

Leon, with his blood-stained armour and Merlin in his servant clothes with dried blood in his hair, barely standing up straight.  Yes, they would be a terrifying thing to behold, Merlin realised.

“I’ll just hold you up.  But you could go back to Camelot and fetch help?” Merlin suggested. 

“And leave you like this?  Arthur would kill me!”

Well, Merlin thought wryly, Arthur could try. 

“No, we go to Essetir and sneak into the castle.” Leon was warming to his theme.  “Two are easier to hide than an army.  Besides, they won’t be expecting it.”

That had been Merlin’s thought too.  However it might have been easier without Leon in some ways.  Leon had no idea about Merlin’s magic.  That was something that Merlin saved only for Arthur.  If it came down to it though, Leon would have to see it and deal with it.

But first they were going to have to find some horses, otherwise it was going to be a very long walk

\---

Arthur was tired.

He was tired from a long days riding.  He was tired of Cenred’s endless questions about Emrys. Most of all he was tired of being hit. 

Across on the other side of the cell, deep below Cenred’s castle, Gwaine didn’t look as if he were enjoying the experience any more than Arthur was.  Both of them were strung up by their wrists, hanging uncomfortably from the ceiling with their feet barely reaching the floor.  Gwaine’s nose was gushing freely from the latest blow.  Arthur could feel blood trickling down his own face and wondered if he looked as bad as Gwaine did. 

Their interrogator didn’t seem to realise that they were never going to talk, never going to give Cenred the information that he wanted.  Gwaine couldn’t, because he had no way of knowing who Emrys was.  And Arthur, who loved Emrys more than his own life, would never betray him.

“This is tiresome,” Cenred sighed.  He kept appearing at the doorway to the cell, hovering annoyingly. It was possibly worse than the beatings.  “Try something else.  That one,” he pointed at Gwaine. “Break something.”

The man Cenred had assigned to work on them never seemed to change his expression.  It was cold when he hit them, and just as cold when he reached up to twist Gwaine’s hand back to an impossible angle.  Arthur winced sympathetically, but there was nothing he could do.  If Merlin was still alive then he was their only chance of getting out of there.  Arthur wasn’t going to give up on him.

There was a loud, sickening crunch and Gwaine gave a cry of pain.  Gwaine was one of the bravest men that Arthur knew.  If he was reacting then it had to be agonising. 

“Again, who is Emrys?”

Gwaine barred his teeth, feral and angry, shifting to try and relieve the pressure from the shackles on his broken hand.  “He’s the monster that’s going to haunt your sleep, Cenred.  You’ll pay for this.”

It almost sounded as if Gwaine knew who Emrys was too, Arthur thought.  But Gwaine was brave and loyal, he was probably trying to deflect the attack from his king.  When they’d first met, Arthur would never have expected that from him.  But Arthur had changed and Gwaine had too. 

“Just tell me who he is and we’ll stop,” Cenred offered. “You’re close to Pendragon.  You’ll have seen Emrys.”

“Everyone’s seen Emrys,” Gwaine snapped.  “He’s an old man. You don’t need us to tell you that.”

“It’s a glamour.”  Balen, Cenred’s sorcerer, was watching as well.  “I’ve seen the old man.  There’s camouflage magic all over him, I could sense it.  The old man is just a disguise.  The real Emrys is hiding his identity.”

“Probably to stop nutters like you bothering him,” Gwaine pointed out. He was leaning over to one side, trying to put all his weight on his uninjured wrist.  From the paleness of Gwaine’s face Arthur wasn’t sure he was succeeding.

“Gwaine and I don’t have magic,” Arthur reminded Cenred.  “How do you expect us to know what this Emrys actually looks like?  If the old man is only a disguise, it hides him from us too.  We’ve no way of knowing who he is.  So let us go before Camelot sends a whole army down here after us.”

Cenred shook his head.  “You know,” he said simply.  “And anyway, if he’s hiding from you then that suggests to me that he’s not entirely comfortable with you.”

“And you think your hospitality to us now is going to make him want to join you?” Arthur asked.  “Really?”

“Essetir is a friend to magic,” Balen told them.  “It’s safe here for magic users.  Emrys would be welcomed. He’d be happy here.”

“He’s a grumpy old man, good luck with finding his happy side,” Gwaine told them. 

Cenred stepped into the cell and stood in front of Gwaine.  “You’re funny, aren’t you?”

“I like to think so.”

“We’ll see how funny you are once it gets a little warmer in here.” Cenred snapped his fingers, and two of his men came in carrying a brazier.  They set it down in the centre of the cell then one of them took a torch from the wall and lit it.  The smell of the burning coals began to drift around the cell.

Cenred, Arthur noticed, was carrying a sword.  Not a flashy one that he might use in battle or for show.  This one was plain and heavy-looking.  As the coals started to heat, Cenred laid the sword down on top of the brazier.  The threat was obvious.

Arthur glanced across at Gwaine, and met a pair of worried brown eyes gazing back at him.

Merlin needed to be alive.  And Merlin needed to hurry.

\---

In the only good luck they felt they’d had that day, Merlin and Leon found the horses grazing quietly a little way from Owendor.  Trained and well looked after, the creatures had no ambition to stray far from their riders.  Arthur’s horse had vanished but then it was a feisty creature and had probably already galloped halfway back to Camelot.

On horseback they made it to Cenred’s castle just after nightfall.  Leaving the horses a safe distance away, Merlin and Leon sneaked into the castle.  If Leon wondered why the guards on the gate suddenly fell asleep as they approached, he didn’t comment on it.

Merlin wondered if he had been quite as subtle over the years as he liked to think.  Arthur always said that he wasn’t but then Arthur always liked to tease Merlin.

Arthur could tease and insult Merlin forever, just as long as he was still alive.  That was all Merlin cared about.  Gwaine too.  Gwaine was a good friend.  If either of them had been harmed or worse…

“Shh,” Leon urged.

“I didn’t say anything!”

“You were grinding your teeth really loudly,” Leon whispered back. 

The castle was quiet.  It was very different to Camelot where there were always people around no matter what time of day or night it was.  But Camelot was almost an extension of the town, whilst Cenred’s castle seemed to stand alone.  Certainly Cenred didn’t appear to be the sort of king who would let his subjects into the castle willingly.  They would be too far beneath him to be of note.

“Where do you think they are?” Merlin whispered.  They’d got into the castle and were sneaking down a dimly-lit corridor.  At one end a gigantic staircase wound its way upwards. 

“The dungeons?” Leon guessed.  “There must be stairs down somewhere.”

It took them a little while to find a narrow spiral staircase that vanished down into the basement of the castle.  Twice they had to duck behind pillars to avoid being seen by the few servants who were still up and about. 

It was too easy.  They hurried down the steps and saw the first of the cells in front of them.  Merlin allowed himself the brief hope that Gwaine and Arthur would be down there, barely guarded for the night, and that it would be a simple matter to unlock their cell and rescue them.  That hope faded a moment later as a long drawn-out yell of pain echoed through the dungeons.

“Arthur…” Merlin breathed.

“We shouldn’t just rush…” Leon began, but Merlin didn’t wait to hear any more.

Merlin raced along the corridor, heading for the terrible sound they’d just heard.  He was barely aware that Leon was running after him.  Every part of Merlin’s being was concentrating on Arthur. Someone was hurting him.  Nobody did that.  Arthur was Merlin’s to protect, Merlin’s to love.

There was another cry of pain and Merlin ran faster.  He could see the open cell door ahead of him.  It was the only area of the dungeons that seemed to be guarded.  Four men were outside, turning as they heard him approach.

Merlin raised his hand, not even bothering to slow down, and _pushed_ them away.  He didn’t know where they’d gone and he didn’t care.  Skidding to a stop at the entrance to the cell, a quick glance told him all he needed to know.

Arthur and Gwaine were alive.

But Cenred was holding a red-hot sword and raising it towards Arthur’s bare chest.  There were already a couple of burn marks there.  The cell reeked of burnt flesh.

There were two other men in the cell. Merlin could feel that one of them had magic.  It was powerful, but nothing compared to his own.  And it was magic that had been used against Arthur.

Merlin raised his hand, just as Cenred turned to see who was interrupting them.

“Oh it’s just the servant,” Cenred sighed.  “Kill him.”

“Sire,” Cenred’s sorcerer breathed.  He raised his hands and managed perhaps the first syllable of an incantation.  And then he was gone, the other man vanished with him.

There was a little gasp from Leon behind him, but Merlin ignored that.

“Drop the sword,” he warned Cenred.

Cenred didn’t release his grip on the weapon, but didn’t move either.

“Well, you wanted Emrys” Arthur pointed out.  “Here he is.”

“Took your time,” Gwaine added.  He didn’t seem particularly surprised by the magic display. But then Gwaine always took everything in his stride.  He did look relieved to see Leon though. That was going to take some explaining, Merlin knew. But it could wait until later.

Leon slipped past and ran over to untie Gwaine.  Gwaine was in worse shape than Arthur, and freeing him seemed to be a painful process.  Merlin tried to block that distraction out, concentrating only on the enemy.  Cenred was still right in front of Arthur.  And he still had that sword.

“Drop the sword and step away from Arthur,” Merlin warned Cenred again. 

“Oh I don’t think so,” Cenred replied, and swung the sword towards Arthur.

It was the last thing he ever did.

Merlin stepped over the lifeless body and carefully untied his beloved king, supporting Arthur when he was released.

“Did we just conquer Essetir?” Merlin heard Gwaine ask. “Is that part of Camelot now?”

“I suppose so,” Leon replied.  “Merlin, what did you do?”

But Merlin didn’t answer.  All he could see was Arthur’s beloved face smiling wearily at him through the pain. 

“He wanted Emrys,” Arthur told him.  “Thought you’d leave me for him.”

“Never.” Gently, trying to avoid the injuries, Merlin kissed him.

Arthur was alive.  That was all that mattered.  And Merlin would never, ever leave him.

\---


End file.
